HarperCollins has closed its purchase of Christian publisher Thomas Nelson. The sale was first announced last October.

Thomas Nelson publishes many inspirational titles, including books by authors like Billy Graham, Max Lucado and Dave Ramsey.

The publisher issued a brief statement. Here is an excerpt: “Thomas Nelson will continue to operate as an independent company with its unique editorial focus on inspirational and Christian content. Details, such as how Thomas Nelson will benefit from HarperCollins global print and digital platform, will be forthcoming.”

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Writer Jack Cheng hopes to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter to fund the production of his novel, These Days. In the rewards section, the project includes a “book club bundle” reward for backers who contribute $170 to the project–what do you think?

Here’s more about the book club bundle: “ 6 signed hardcovers for your book club, bookstore,
cafe, startup, co-working space… plus your name in the back and the digital bundle. Shipping included. (International add $10) Estimated Delivery: Jan 2013.”

The money would allow him to employ the services of editors, proofreaders, designers and printers.

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Gisela Gagliardi, a Twilight fan visiting San Diego for Comic-Con, was hit by a car and killed while running across the street in front of the San Diego Convention Center.

The San Diego Union Tribune first reported the sad news ahead of the convention (which begins later this week): “Comic-Con fans said Gagliardi, who was with a group, had been in line since Sunday for the panel for ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2,’ set for Thursday afternoon in Hall H. The highly anticipated panel will include cast appearances and exclusive footage from the movie. Fans said the convention center staff was about to switch the line, so the beginning became the end, and that she was running to keeping her place in line.”

According to photos on her Facebook page, Gagliardi had attended the event in previous years. 

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Self-published novelist Jamie McGuire has inked a deal with Simon & Schuster’s Atria imprint to publish her bestselling romance, Beautiful Disaster.

That book is currently ranked No.1 on our Self-Published Bestsellers List and has sold more than 200,000 copies. Atria will publish the eBook now with a trade paperback coming out in August. In addition, Atria bought the rights to Walking Disaster, the sequel to her novel.

Rebecca Watson from Valerie Hoskins Associates (the same agency that represented E. L. James for Fifty Shades of Grey) negotiated the deal with Atria editor Amy Tannenbaum. McGuire self-published her fourth novel last May.

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Random House UK has released a book trailer for the Wool series by Hugh Howey, a formerly self-published science fiction series set in a dystopian future. We’ve embedded the trailer above–what do you think?

Director Ridley Scott and producer Steve Zaillian acquired the film rights to Wool earlier this year–. You can read an early draft of Wool at this link. The former yacht captain published Wool in July 2011, and has since written four more books in the series.

If you are already a fan of the books, Howey will give away proof copies of the novels. Here’s more about the giveaway: “Five individual books. WOOL spelled across the spine. A wrapper. A new chapter nobody has ever read before (chapter 13 in book 2). All this will be yours; it’ll be free; and I’ll even sign each of the five books before bubble-wrapping them and shipping them to your home.”

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Stuck with writer’s block?

For writers looking for new inspiration, The Image Language is a new online tool that turns word searches into an array of images using Google Images. The tool translates words, names, quotes and even songs into photos that are sharable through social media. The images respond to different searches, so the results are evolving.

Here is more about the site: “By using the most popular online search engine, we are able to turn the images into a new language. Creating an interactive visual experiment that explores the possibilities of two things: words and images.” continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.